Ontology of Artificial Nature

Research object

This research examines how matter, energy, data, and networks form the substrate of Artificial Nature and how information, algorithms, UI, and UX organize that substrate into a world of human experience.

Core problem

Treating digital environments as immaterial virtual space alone cannot account for both their material dependencies and the layers that organize human experience.

Theoretical background

Artificial Nature explains the ontological structure in which technological realities become environmental conditions. The Mechanocene concerns the civilizational feedback through which that environment conditions subsequent human action; the two concepts are therefore distinct.

Research questions

• How do matter, energy, data, and networks constitute the substrate of technological environments?
• How do information, algorithms, UI, and UX organize that substrate as a human world of experience?

Method and unit of analysis

Analysis distinguishes substrate and stratum, the institutional and social mediations between them, and their effects on human experience.

Relations to core concepts

• Artificial Nature
• Mechanocene
• Operational Autonomy
• Eco-Digital

Representative publications and evidence

• Ontology of Artificial Nature: Focusing on the Four Elements of Basis and Stratum2026 · 현대문학이론연구 101, 79–129 · DOI 10.22273/SMLT.101.4
• Birth of Artificial Nature and the Humanities of Coexistence2021 · The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology 7(4), 449–460 · DOI 10.17703/JCCT.2021.7.4.449
• The Problems of Media Aesthetics in the Techedit Era (2): The Birth of Artificial Nature and the Transparency of Immersion2021 · 인문콘텐츠 60, 151–170 · DOI 10.18658/humancon.2021.03.151

Related projects

Mechanocene · Eco Digital →

Current status and limits

This research page concerns the Ontology of Artificial Nature. The mechanocene route is retained as a compatibility legacy slug and should not be confused with the execution of the Mechanocene project.